In films, as with most stories, there is a general understanding that the main protagonist will always come out on top. Some films subvert this expectation, but in most cases, the audience is already aware that the main hero will overcome any challenge that is presented to them somehow.
The tension in those cases is derived from the drama within its plot points, less so than the stakes. Some movies, such as ones from the ’80s action movie boom, embrace the concept of an unbeatable hero, and it was successful. Even so, there are a lot of movies that can take the trope too far and make the stories hard to take seriously.
10 Rambo’s Enemies Have Terrible Aim
When it comes to characters with the most plot armor, the era of the untouchable ’80s action hero is one of the most famous examples. Among them, one of the most prolific heroes with plot armor was Rambo. In each of the films, Rambo single-handedly faces down several waves of enemy soldiers who have terrible aim.
It’s a famous example of Rambo simply being untouchable, due to him being the protagonist, to the point that it was spoofed by many people, including the famous Weird-Al Yankovich film, UHF.
9 G.I. Joe Cops Out of Duke’s Death
In 1987, G.I. Joe: The Movie was originally meant to kill off the character Duke. In the original script, Duke is hit with the snake-spear by Serpentor, and dies. However, due to the negative reception of the previous Sunbow Production film, Transformers: The Movie, due to the death of Optimus Prime, the film script was changed so that Duke only fell into a coma.
This was such a last-minute change that the only confirmation that Duke is still alive is a voice-over at the very end of the film. In this case, Duke’s plot armor was deliberately put in place by studio executives.
8 No One Should Have Survived The Stampede
In 2005’s King Kong, there is a sequence where Jack Driscoll and his camera crew have to run through a valley while a pack of Brontasauruses stampede all around them. Put simply, there is absolutely no reason for the crew to survive that scene. There are hundreds of Brontasauruses running all around the humans, and the fact that they manage to make it through at all is completely unbelievable.
The movie even makes the situation more unbelievable by having one character somehow kick one of the dinosaurs in the head as he runs along. The only reason they make it is through plot armor.
7 James Bond Has Nothing To Fear
With the exception of some of the more recent James Bond films, the majority of the 007 series features James Bond being largely unthreatened by many of the supposed dangerous villains and highly trained soldiers that he has had to face off against in his long career. Even in some of the tougher situations that Bond has found himself in, he was able to escape with almost minimal effort.
This is largely due to the aura of impenetrable poise that makes Bond who he is. If he were ever truly shaken by the circumstances surrounding him, it wouldn’t feel like Bond anymore. By the same token, though, it makes it hard to take most moments seriously.
6 Jack Sparrow’s Crew Is Extremely Lucky
The crew of the legendary Black Pearl has seen no small number of extremely dangerous adventures. Recounting all of the situations that Jack Sparrow and his crew have survived, what seems to be the most arbitrary is when they are captured by cannibals on an island.
The audience is told that the bone cages they were kept in “weren’t made until after they got there,” and in the subsequent escape, one of the cages falls into the water below. With all of this, it seems miraculous that all of the named characters are able to overcome the ordeal without a single casualty on their part.
5 Eli Has Divine Protection
In The Book of Eli, divine intervention is literally Eli’s superpower. Over the course of the movie, the audience watches Eli face off against whole groups of enemies in very entertaining action sequences, but everything is given a new perspective thanks to the ending revelation.
It turns out that the Bible that Eli has been carrying out throughout the entire movie is actually in braille, Eli had overcome all of those fights while being completely blind. The movie makes no small implication that, because of this, God himself was watching over Eli throughout the film. In that sense, plot armor is woven into the film’s DNA.
4 The Zombies Can’t Catch Gerry In World War Z
The undead horde in World War Z is one of the most legitimately scary depictions of the undead in recent years. Instead of being a group of shambling, decaying creatures, The World War Z zombies are fast and tough monsters. The scene in which the horde endlessly trample over each other to get over a massive wall is an extremely striking image.
Despite how deadly they are, protagonist Gerry has found himself at the epicenter of several zombie attacks and has somehow found a way to overcome each one. It can be a little hard to believe, seeing as several highly-trained soldiers can’t seem to defend themselves.
3 Ford Brody Has Survived Many Godzilla Attacks
In the controversial Godzilla from 2014, the world is hopelessly ill-equipped for the number of kaiju attacks that come out of nowhere. The main human character of the film, Ford Brody, is a member of the military who somehow always finds himself at the center of the next kaiju rampage and, even less likely, manages to walk away from each one relatively unscathed.
It even occurs on more than one occasion where Brody turns out to be the sole survivor of a rampage. Brody seems to have a supernatural knack for survival in order to get to the end of the movie.
2 Gamora Shouldn’t Have Survived In Space
Guardians of the Galaxy is a mostly lighthearted film that doesn’t ask its audience to take it too seriously. Because of that, it is fairly easy to forgive a lot of the instances of plot armor throughout the film.
There is one sequence where Starlord saves Gamora from the vacuum of space. The first issue is that Gamora seems to survive in space for several minutes and is only afflicted with unconsciousness. Still, one could argue that Gamora is more resistant because she is an alien. Then, Starlord removes his helmet and places it on Gamora to save her, then survives for several more seconds without any protection from the vacuum.
1 The Avengers Somehow Survive Thanos’ Attack In Endgame
When Thanos reappears in Avengers: Endgame‘s third act, the entirety of the Avengers compound is completely destroyed. Literally, not a single brick of the building is left in the aftermath. Despite this, the worst any of the Avengers get from this destruction is a little bit of dirt on their faces. No one is killed when the building is destroyed; no one is even majorly injured.
Of course, the Avengers are a collective of superhumans and gods, but they are still mostly portrayed to be mortal, and seeing that every member of the group is able to walk away from that damage completely unscathed is a little hard to believe.
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